Walking the Talk

A Year of "Walking the Talk"

In an effort to engage and excite staff about improving quality and increasing commitment to the organization's core values (Future oriented ... Innovative ... Respect ... Service Driven ... Teamwork), Pilgrim Place wanted to find out where employees are living out the core values...where the excitement about working at Pilgrim Place is happening.

Enter Daniel Pryfogle, CHHSM's Director of Consulting Services, who has worked over the past year with a Quality First Team of representatives from all departments at Pilgrim Place. With an initial one-day training session with team members followed by bi-monthly coaching sessions by phone, Daniel has led us, using Appreciative Inquiry, on a journey of "story telling." We've asked ourselves: When have we felt most energized working at Pilgrim Place.? From the storytelling among team members, with small groups and in some departments, we have learned that good work is already happening ... and core values are indeed being lived out at Pilgrim Place!

Yet the storytelling has been only the first step. Through this positive way of framing conversations when we address organizational challenges, we have been encouraged (and challenged!) to find ways of leveraging the successes to do even more. "It's already happening...let's do even better."

Importantly, we've discovered that this new positive change, asset-based approach makes sense. As Daniel says, "Rather than perceiving that our organization has problems to be solved, we assume that something good is at work. And, importantly, the resources to help us be better are already here."

Sue Likens & Joyce Yarborough, Quality First Team Leaders
Pilgrim Place